Take Action Now: China's Olympic Legacy

The Beijing Olympics start next week. Take action now to promote human rights in China!

• Call on President Bush to use his visit to the Olympics this summer to pressure China to improve its human rights record.
  Click here to take action!
  
  
• Defend freedom of expression in China. Imagine being arrested for something as simple as sending an e-mail. In April 2004, the Chinese journalist Shi
  Tao used his Yahoo! email account to send a message to a U.S.-based pro-democracy
  website. In his email, he summarized a government order directing media organizations in China to downplay the upcoming 15th anniversary of the 1989
  crackdown on pro-democracy activists. Police arrested him in November 2004,
  charging him with “illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities.” Authorities used email account holder information supplied
  by Yahoo! to convict Shi Tao in April 2005 and sentence him to 10 years in prison. China currently has the largest recorded number of imprisoned journalists and cyberdissidents
  in the world. As of July 2006, Amnesty International had documented
  at least 54 Chinese Internet users believed to be imprisoned for such acts as signing
  petitions, calling for an end to corruption, disseminating health information, or
  planning to establish pro-democracy groups.
  Click here to call for the release of Shi Tao and promote freedom of expression in China!
  
  
• Protect human rights defenders in China. Human rights defender Hu Jia has been sentenced to three years and six months’ imprisonment. Amnesty International considers Hu Jia to be a prisoner of conscience.
  Click here to call for the release of Hu Jia!
  
  
• China has the power to bring peace to Darfur. Did you know that China is Sudan's largest oil consumer? Or that China is Sudan's largest trading partner? Or that China has provided 90 percent of small arms purchased by Sudan since 2004? Call on China to use its influence in Sudan to pressure the government to stop the genocide in Darfur.
  Urge China to take concrete steps to help stop the genocide in Darfur!
  

Take Action Now: End Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been described as one of the worst places on earth to be a woman. Hundreds of thousands of women and girls have become victims of brutal rape, used as a tool of warfare. Please join concerned advocates around the country in ensuring that their voices are heard. We can help bring hope and peace to women in the Congo!

House Resolution 1227 has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives condemning the sexual violence occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo and calling for the United States and the international community to demand an end to this cycle of violence.

What is House Resolution 1227, and how will it help? House Resolution 1227:

• Urges the United States Agency for International Development and international community to provide victims and potential victims of rape with greater assistance for health care services, psychological and social counseling, and legal advice;
  
  
• Calls on the government of the DRC to end the widespread sexual violence by holding all armed groups, including members of the Congolese armed forces and police, accountable for their actions;
  
  
• Calls on the UN Security Council to take immediate steps to ensure that the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Congo, MONUC, is fully funded to increase troop presence and deploy in areas where sexual violence is most prevalent.

What can you do? First, click here to find out if your representative is already a co-sponsor of House Resolution 1227. If they aren't, write to them to urge them to co-sponsor House Resolution 1227. If they are already a co-sponsor, click here, then edit the letter to thank them for co-sponsoring the resolution and urge them to ask other representatives to become co-sponsors as well.

Want to do more? Call your representative (visit http://www.house.gov/ to find them) to ask them to co-sponsor House Resolution 1227. You can also learn more about the Congo at http://www.congoglobalaction.org/.

Take Action Now: Stop Violence in Zimbabwe

Amnesty International has documented unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, as well as harassment and intimidation of mainly Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters and human rights defenders in Zimbabwe following elections on 29 March 2008. By the end of May dozens of people had been killed and over 1600 people had been treated for injuries sustained from politically related violence. A week prior to the elections on June 27, Amnesty International revealed that 12 bodies have been found in various areas of Zimbabwe. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, swayed by the massive violence lodged against civilians, has withdrawn from the run-off presidential elections against President Robert Mugabe.

AIUSA is now calling on governments in Zimbabwe’s neighboring countries to protect human rights in Zimbabwe. Visit http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=10531 to send a letter to Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, President of the Republic of Zambia and Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), asking him to protect human rights in Zimbabwe. To learn more, visit http://www.amnestyusa.org/zimbabwe.